Houses of Poverty

Land Without Bread

December 1933 •Spanish

An exploration —manipulated and staged— of life in Las Hurdes, in the province of Cáceres, in Extremadura, Spain, as it was in 1932. Insalubrity, misery and lack of opportunities provoke the emigration of young people and the solitude of those who remain in the desolation of one of the poorest and least developed Spanish regions at that time.

Megacities

August 1998 •English

Megacities is a documentary about the slums of five different metropolitan cities.

Ray of Sunshine

August 1933 •German

Hans, living in Vienna during the Great Depression, intends to drown himself in the river after losing his livelihood. While there he meets a girl named Anna after pulling her from the river.

Havlandet

September 1985 •Norwegian

This is a tale that has an epic scope in scenery "the northern snow-covered lands of coastal Norway" and is dramatized by moments of tumultuous stormy weather. But the focus is on Heikki (Stein Bjorn) a young man who is inspired by the northern lights to take a horse-drawn sled and make his way to the sea, hoping to come back with abundant fish. He is overtaken by a snowstorm and is forced to find shelter in a small, isolated cabin that is home to a half-crazy widow, her baby, and a blind man. Driven to arson by her internal demons, the woman destroys the cabin. She and the blind man perish, but Heikki manages to save the baby. He is now faced with an even greater challenge as he holds the infant and looks in the direction of the coastline.

My Own Private Idaho

February 1991 •English

In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.

Monster

December 2003 •English

An emotionally scarred highway drifter shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her, and ultimately becomes America's first female serial killer.

The Curse of Steptoe

March 2008 •English

In the early 1960s aspiring stage actor Harry H. Corbett jumps at the chance to play junk-dealer Harold Steptoe in a television comedy show 'Steptoe and Son'. However, the show's success proves to be a poisoned chalice for him, type-casting him and thwarting his stage ambitions. Wilfrid Brambell, the actor playing his father, is marginalized in a different way. He is a gay man in an England where homosexuality is still illegal.

Antonyho šance

November 1986 •Czech

Antony is obsessed with the idea of a happy family life, but his young daughter has to be cared for by the parents of his wife, who died in a car accident. Unfortunately, Martha, whom Antony has somewhat recklessly married, has a fundamentally different vision of her future than he does.

Fists of Pride

December 2011 •English

Fists of Pride follows Little Tiger and his fellow fighters as their Thai coaches prepare them for the annual Water Festival competition. In a boxing camp on the Thai-Burmese border the children of mostly illegal migrant workers fleeing Burma live and train for prize fights. In a region where combat sports have always been a matter of honor and money, the film reveals their daily struggles. Bets are open and as the hope of prize money rizes, the young boxers contemplate what it could mean for them and their families

Platoon

December 1986 •English

As a young and naive recruit in Vietnam, Chris Taylor faces a moral crisis when confronted with the horrors of war and the duality of man.

Ida

October 2013 •Polish

In 1960s Poland, young novitiate Anna is on the verge of taking her vows when she discovers a family secret dating back to the years of the German occupation.

Underground

June 2021 •French

Maxime is a young Valdorian who works in a gold mine. As he experiences several difficulties as he goes through life, he will question his definition of masculinity. It's with the help of the tightly knit brotherhood of colleagues in the mine that he will find the necessary support to overcome a feeling of stubborn guilt which prevents him from achieving happiness. Until the day an explosion breaks out underground. As part of the rescue mission, Maxime descends into the mine lair with the firm intention of bringing each of his colleagues back to the surface alive.

The Prince of Pennsylvania

October 1988 •English

Set in a remote Pennsylvania coal-mining town, this off-beat comedy follows the relationship between Carla, a hippie woman, and Rupert, a young punk rocker who feels like a pariah. Hoping to leave their current lives behind, the two conspire to kidnap Rupert's father and hold him for ransom.

Capernaum

September 2018 •Arabic

After running away from his negligent parents, committing a violent crime and being sentenced to five years in jail, a hardened, streetwise 12-year-old Lebanese boy sues his parents in protest of the life they have given him.

Stray Dogs

February 2014 •Chinese

An alcoholic man and his two young children barely survive in Taipei. They cross paths with a lonely grocery clerk who might help them make a better life.

Tehroun

April 2010 •Persian

Ebrahim leaves his family and tries out his luck in Teheran. But in this urban jungle where everything's for sale and anything can be bought, dreams rapidly become nightmares. Caught up, in spite of himself, in a trafficking ring, will Ebrahim find an opportunity of escaping?

Bellmouth

June 2018 •English

Amy is taken on a impromptu camping trip by her Dad on her 15th Birthday. Along with her little brother, the endless summer turns into an inescapable future.

Greed

December 1924 •English

A lottery win of $5,000 forever changes the lives of a miner turned dentist and his wife.

Hell

October 2019 •Spanish

Chennu committed his first crime when he was 15 years old: being a street kid. And he entered hell: Pademba Road. The adult prison in Freetown. In hell, Mr. Sillah is in charge, and there is no hope. Chennu got out after four years. Now he wants to go back.

Pueto Pa' Mi

August 2015 •Spanish